DU is allocating more money to student financial aid for the next academic year in anticipation of increased need due to the poor economy, according to Chancellor Robert Coombe and Director of Financial Aid Barb Marshall.
About 77 percent of undergraduate students currently receive financial aid, and 43 percent receive need-based aid.
Both numbers are expected to rise next year although an exact estimate of how much it will rise has not been determined by the financial aid office.
“We anticipate that there is going to be a higher need for students, [that there will be a greater difference between] the cost of attending the institution and what families can contribute. We’re committed to meeting more of that gap. But it is hard to put a dollar amount on that,” Marshall said.
According to Marshall, the university will not be creating new awards or financial aid packages but rather is preparing fiscally for more families to apply and qualify for need-based financial aid.
“We want to be able to attract those great students and continue to increase aid for continuing students,” Coombe said of the increase in funding for financial aid in an interview with the Clarion in January.
“Our principal worry in this is really with the families of the current students and current students themselves, enabling them to stay here once they’ve been admitted,” he said.
Marshall said it is important for students to know that if they are not approved for need-based financial aid when they file their FAFSA application and their families’ financial circumstances have changed since the application was submitted, they are able to appeal the decision and have their qualifications re-reviewed.
In addition, all students that are U.S. citizens are eligible for federal student loans, even if they do not qualify for need-based aid.
Both the greater student need for aid and the administration’s increased concern with helping students finance their education reflect national trends among private universities, according to a study conducted in December by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
The survey of 372 university presidents found that student demand for financial aid had been affected at 82 percent of colleges and universities and that only eight percent of those universities planned to freeze or cut financial aid.
The federal deadline to submit a FAFSA application for the 2009-2010 school year is June 30, 2010. Applications can be submitted online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
